Cultural deprivation is the theory that states majority of working class and ethnic minorities are inadequately socialised and therefore lack the ‘right’ culture needed for educational success.
Cultural deprivation theorists argue that majority of people are taught from birth the correct; attitudes, norms, and behaviour expected within society for educational success, hence see the primary socialisation of children as the most important undermining factor which will determine whether a child will be successful within education. However they also argue that there is a minority of people whom do not thrive within education as they have been ‘culturally deprived’ since birth, which has lead to under achievement, of which the majority are of a working class / black background.
There are three factors which make up cultural deprivation; language skills/development, intellectual development and attitudes and values. Intellectual development is the development that refers to the growth of the brain in terms of becoming more understanding and capable of analysing and evaluating concepts and ideas to make sense of the world and surrounding environments. Cultural deprivation theorists argue that many working class families lack sufficient educational books, toys and activities due to economic constrains as they are more likely to be on benefits therefore will be unable to afford such possessions which would stimulate their child’s development as seen with Bernstein and Young’s study. The pair reached similar evaluations as they investigated the way mothers think about selecting and buying toys to aid their childs intellectual development. During their study they found that middle class mothers are more likely to select toys that encourage and aid thinking/reasoning skills which will give their children a head start when starting school and furthermore will help them in later life. However although a childs intellectual development may be viewed as a important skill which will determine a child’s intelligence it could be argued that it would only affect the beginning of their ‘educational journey’ rather than their whole educational experience.
Another aspect which is seen to determine cultural deprivation is language. Bernstein 1975 identified the various language differences between both working class and middle class language which could determine achievement levels, he came to the conclusion that working class families are more likely to use the ‘restricted code’ and the middle class the ‘elaborated code’ The restricted code consists and is seen to use little, unelaborated and often unfinished vocabulary/sentences while assuming that the listener understands the same experiences hence tend to be less descriptive than analytical. In contrast the elaborated code is made up of a wider vocabulary used within longer grammatically correct sentences, furthermore the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the same experiences and therefore shows a better use of analytical language which enables the listener to understand the context and ideas the speaker is trying to show. Language deprivation is often seen as the most important factor when determining whether a child will be at a cultural disadvantage which could lead to underachievement as it is seen that the middle class are of a better advantage as they speak in such a way that teachers and adults are able to relate to and furthermore in a way that test exams and textbooks are written in, it is also often seen that the middle class find starting school less stressful that that of a working class child as it seen that the working class are disadvantaged as when starting school they are often unable to completely understand the language analogies made which makes it unlikely for them to understand concepts and ideas expressed within education. However Bernstein is critical of cultural deprivation theorists as they believe that it’s the child’s home environment which determines their achievement. As schooling can teach students how to speak within the elaborated speech code, however a schools failure to enforce such language skills to working class children put them at a further disadvantage and could be seen as creating education inequality.
Lastly cultural deprivation theorists argue that working class parents pass down negative attitudes and values that can further educational under achievement. Douglas found within his study that working class parents do not perceive education as important or of any direct value; hence their children lack any sense of drive or ambition to be successful within both education and work. He also found that working class parents were more likely to show little interest in their child’s education or future by not showing up to parents evenings or meetings. This lack of parental interest is therefore often seen to represent working class values and furthermore is seen as a self imposed barrier to educational and career success – therefore the working class are again at a disadvantage in regard to achievement as fewer opportunities are available and open to them.
Sugarman investigated working class attitudes further and broke them into four key features that prevent educational achievement, these were; fatalism, collectivism, immediate gratification and present time orientation. Fatalism is the belief in fate with the ‘whatever will be, will be’ attitude which doesn’t allow opportunity for children to develop their status, education and further in life jobs as they are constantly reminded that fate will decide, regardless of hard work. Secondly there is the idea of collectivism which values being part of a group/society more than succeeding self prophecies which contrasts the middle class view of not being distracted by loyalties. Immediate gratification, the hedonistic idea of enjoying pleasure/freedom now rather than sacrificing life in order to progress in life rather than the middle class view of sacrificing for greater rewards later in life, and lastly present time orientation in which the working class see the present more important than the for coming future hence do not have goals for life rather than the middle class view of planning for success.
As the division in educational achievement is becoming increasingly wider the social policy of compensatory education was introduced, they are government education policies such as operation Head Start in the USA (which made the programme Sesame Street) that seek to tackle the problem if under achievement by providing extra support sand funding to schools and families in deprived areas, with the hope of captivating young children installing them with attitudes and values needed for success in education.
Overall although cultural deprivation can have a serious effect on a child’s educational success we must not just accept that some social groups and ethnicities will be the result of a general stereotype, instead we must enforce various ways of reaching out to individuals to ensure that education is fair and undivided to all by such programmes such as Head Start in order to decrease educational underachievement